Display rack



P 1965 M. GLASSENBERG 3,208,598

' DISPLAY RACK Filed July 1, 1964 fax-J H5 INVENTOR.

MARw/v GLASSE/V R6 MAgA.

United States Patent 3,208,598 DISPLAY RACK Marvin Glassenberg, 7615 S. Phillips Ave., Chicago, Ill. Filed July 1, 1964, Ser. No. 379,459 6 Claims. (Cl. 211-49) The present invention relates to racks for the display and holding of various kinds of merchandise and more particularly relates to such a rack which is relatively light-weight, easy to assemble and disassamble, inexpensive and readily fabricated for use in modular form whereby a number of such rack units may be combined.

A primary object of my invention is to provide a lightweight display rack fabricated primarily of tubular metal and wire and which may be readily assembled and disassembled and which is in the form of modular units. Another object of my invention is to provide a display rack which may be shipped or stored in a relatively small space.

A further object of my invention is to provide a display rack having a skeleton of tubular metal and wires and which is boxed in by attractive panelling members.

These and other objects, features and advantages of my invention will become apparent to those skilled in this particular art from the following description and attached drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the display rack comprising my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is an exploded, perspective view illustrating the various components of my rack; and

FIGURE 4 is a detailed view of the modular attachment means of my invention.

Reference should next be had to FIGURES l and 2 and 3 thereof.

The basic display rack, generally denoted by the numeral 11, consists of four structural members, viz, a merchandise-holding section 12, a pair of side frame members 13 (both of which are of the same construction) and a back brace member 14. Such members are joined to form the rack.

The side frame members 13 provide the supports for the rack and in the preferred embodiment hereof are in the form of a point three-sided trapezoid with the open section being on the floor. It will of course be understood that this bottom portion may be closed with a tubular member if such a structure is desired. Such side front member has a front leg member 15, a slightly longer back leg member 16 and a joining cross-piece 17 which in the assembled position slants downwardly from back to front to unite said leg members. In another embodiment of this invention the joining cross-piece 17 is bent inwardly at its middle portion rather than being straight. By this means I am able to attach two or more merchandise-holding members onto the rack.

The merchandise-holding member 12 is provided with a plurality of article-holding sections. There is a rectangular outer frame member 18 to which are rigidly attached two (or more if desired) parallel cross bars 19. At their outer ends such cross bars are bent at substantially a 90 angle to form the attachment means 20 for locking the holding members 12 onto the side frames 13. Even more specifically, such attachment means 20 fit into slot holes 30 formed on the cross-piece member 17 to the side frames.

The frame members 18 and 19 form the basic checkered support means for the article-holders 21. Such articleholders which consist of a pair of lowermost legs 22 to which are afiixed a front U-shaped member 23 and a back U-shaped member 24. Subsequent to the first row of holders, the back U-shaped piece of a holder pair becomes the front U-shaped member of the holding section im- "ice mediately behind it. Also as shown in the drawings, as one moves progressively toward the rear of the holding sections the legs 22 are in a higher plane step-wise.

In greater detail, it is first noted that in the first or bottom row of article-holders the cross legs 22 join both the front and back U-shaped members at their lowermost points. In the second row of holders such legs are joined to the lowermost point of the back U-shaped holders but are approximately one-third of the way up on such holders which form the front portions thereof. Such structure is carried on through the device to provide the step-wise features of the article-holding sections. Such article-holding section is preferably made of metal wire or rod and where joining of the various pieces is required a joining process such as welding may be employed.

The article-holders are rigidly attached to the frame members. More specifically as shown in the drawings the lowermost holding section 25 has its front U-shaped member united with the frontmost cross bar 19a and the back U-shaped members of such holding row attached on their rearward directed surfaces to the next cross bar 19!). Intermediate the frontmost and backmost row of holding sections there may be or may not be additional cross-pieces 19 for further support of the article-holding members. Further to provide rigidity and structural strength, the backmost row of article-holders is rigidly afiixed to the back of the rectangular frame 18.

The trapezoidal side frames 13 have a plurality of holes and slots for the assembly of the device and to enable a multitude of modular units to be united side by side.

The back member 14 consists of two angled side bars 26 and 27 and two cross-pieces 28, such side bars and cross-pieces being joined together as by welding or the like. I prefer that the cross-pieces, 28 in the assembled position of the rack be positioned in front of the side bars 26 and 27. To further enhance the modular construction hereof one angled side bar is slightly shorter in length than the other for reasons presently to be discussed. It is noted that the side bars are in the form of a separate X and that other ends are bent for insertion into holes formed in the back of the side frame member legs 16.

I provide four slots 29 (as illustrated in FIGURE 4) on the sidestwo on each side-of the cross-pieces 17 of the side frame members. At one end of said slot is a hole 30 to receive the bent ends 20 of the article-holding cross bars 19. Such ends readily glide in the slots 29 into the holes 30 and are removably locked therein when the rack is assembled. The four ends 20 shown in the drawings fit into four slots 30 which are constructed as illustrated and by this means the holding member section 12 is attached to the side frames 13. This employs the four inner slots, i.e., facing the article-holding sections. The second holding section may then be added to the outside pair of slots and then another end frame and back brace is provided and so on to add additional modular units as desired. Holes are provided in the back of the end frame legs 17 to receive the bent ends of the back frame members 26 and 27, and on the inner side thereof to receive the ends of cross-pieces 28. The angled pieces 26 and 27 lie completely in the same plane. The cross-pieces 28 upon insertion into the side holes in leg 16 lie in the same plane but cause a slight bowing outward and stress to the angled pieces 26 and 27. This acts to tighten and hold the rack together.

Since the angled members 26 and 27 are not of equal length space is provided on the back of leg 16 for other holes to receive such members of another modular unit. In this manner (and with the slots 29 and holes 30) one is readily able to unite together a plurality of the present racks into as large a rack as is desired.

A variety of merchandise for example, cards, hosiery and other flattened packages may be readily displayed on the present racks. Packages of irregular form also may be held.

The foregoing description represents the complete rack and has considerable utility. To further enhance its appearance and to provide for the containment of merchandise within the rack without such being seen, I have made such racks with panelling and inside shelves. The panelling covers the trapezoidal side surfaces and the front area beneath the holding section 12. To insert such panelling I bolt it, or the like, to the frame members.

In another embodiment hereof the side frames are of rectangular rather than trapezoidal outline, i.e., the legs are of equal length. Here the rack presents a flattened rather than step-wise top surface. Except for this its structure is the same as previously described.

The present racks are preferably made of tubular metal and metal rod or Wire. This may be for example chrome tubing or support members or other material of similar nature.

It will be apparent to those skilled in this particular art that various modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the spirit or scope of the novel concepts of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A readily assembled and disassembled display rack comprising in combination: a pair of tubular side frame members, said frame members having holes and slots therein for attachment of the other components hereof; a merchandise-holding section readily attachable to and detachable from said side frame members and a back member readily attachable to and detachable from said side frame members, said back member consisting of an X frame which is stressed in the assembled position, said X frame consisting of a plurality of parallel cross members and a pair of angled side bars, said side bars being joined to said cross pieces in an area near the midpoints thereof and said cross pieces being joined on the same side of said cross pieces, one of said angled side bars being slightly shorter in length than the other of said side bar pair, said angled side bars having bent means at their ends for attachment to said tubular side frame members, said cross pieces in the assembled position of the display rack being in a plane parallel with the side frame members to which they are attached and said angled members in the assembled display rack being slightly flexed from said plane.

2. The display rack as defined in claiml wherein the external walls thereof are formed of panel members.

3. The display rack as defined in claim 1 wherein said side frame members are of trapezoidal shape.

4. The display rack as defined in claim 1 wherein said side frame members are of rectangular shape.

5. The display rack as defined in claim 1 wherein said side frame members are of trapezoidal shape and wherein the floor-directed face thereof in the assembled position is open.

6. The display rack as defined in claim 1 wherein said side frame members are of rectangular shape and wherein the floor-directed face thereof in the assembled position is open.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,075,320 3/37 Williams 211128 2,235,977 3/41 Bitney 21155 2,761,568 9/56 Temple 108--59 2,913,124 11/59 Rubenstein 211--5S 2,969,155 1/61 Atkinson 211177 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A READILY ASSEMBLED AND DISASSEMBLED DISPLAY RACK COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: A PAIR OF TUBULAR SIDE FRAME MEMBERS, SAID FRAME MEMBERS HAVING HOLES AND SLOTS THEREIN FOR ATTACHMENT OF THE OTHER COMPONENTS HEREOF; A MERCHANDISE-HOLDING SECTION READILY ATTACHABLE TO AND DETACHABLE FROM SAID SIDE FRAME MEMBERS AND A BACK MEMBER READILY ATTACHABLE TO AND DETACHABLE FROM SAID SIDE FRAME MEMBERS, SAID BACK MEMBER CONSISTING OF AN X FRAME WHICH IS STRESSED IN THE ASSEMBLED POSITION, SAID X FRAME CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL CROSS MEMBERS AND A PAIR OF ANGLED SIDE BARS, SAID SIDE BARS BEING JOINED TO SAID CROSS PIECES IN AN AREA NEAR THE MIDPOINTS THEREOF AND SAID CROSS PIECES BEING JOINED ON THE SAME SIDE OF SAID CROSS PIECES, ONE OF SAID ANGLED SIDE BARS BEING SLIGHTLY SHORTER IN LENGTH THAN THE OTHER OF SAID SIDE BAR PAIR, SAID ANGLED SIDE BARS HAVING BENT MEANS AT THEIR ENDS FOR ATTACHMENT TO SAID TUBULAR SIDE FRAME MEMBERS, SAID CROSS PIECES IN THE ASSEMBLED POSITION OF THE DISPLAY RACK BEING IN A PLANE PARALLEL WITH THE SIDE FRAME MEMBERS TO WHICH THEY ARE ATTACHED AND SAID ANGLED MEMBERS IN THE ASSEMBLED DISPLAY RACK BEING SLIGHTLY FLEXED FROM SAID PLANE. 